The Red Head and the Silent Boy
by Murayama-Tsuru
Summary: He always thought that Pokémon were meant to be used as tools...That is until a certain boy came along and changed his mind. A retelling of the events of the second generation remakes, HeartGold and SoulSIlver games from the point of view of the rival, Silver. Maybe, if you look really hard, there's some Precious-Metal shipping, but, there really aren't any pairings.


**Hello again or for the first time, Murayama Tsuru here. I have decided to write something for Pokemon, just to give it a try ^_^ I recently replayed HeartGold and SoulSilver, so this is a oneshot for the fourth generation remakes of the second generation games. It's from the point of view of the rival, Silver as he is, by far, my favorite rival of all the games. Except, I don't call him Silver. That's because you can name him whatever you want (my most recent playthrough had him named Shizuo ^_^). Neither, though, do I call the protagonist Ethan or Gold (for the same reason, really). And, that is the reason for the title as well. So, without further ado, here's the oneshot, I hope you guys enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon; it belongs to Nintendo…and GameFreak, I think…**_

He hadn't always hated his father. In fact, he had admired him as most children admired their fathers. Of course, he knew his father was different than all other fathers, as his dad was both Viridian City's Gym Leader and the leader of the notorious Team Rocket, which made him better than any other father out there. And, as such, the red-headed boy had taken his father's lessons about Pokemon to heart; they were tools, nothing more, to be used and then thrown out when they outlasted their usefulness.

And then, some child, not much older than himself had beaten his father, with those tools his father was known to use so well, not once but three times. It made no sense to the boy, and even less sense that, afterword, once he had given the child his badge, his dad decided that he was going to leave and abandon his own son to train somewhere far away.

Of course, the red-headed boy had confronted his father, as the man's back was turned to him, walking away from his only son, "You told me…You were the number one in the world! Are you gonna quit? What are you going to do now?"

His father turned back to him and looked his son in the eyes, not saying anything, his gaze as cold as it always was. Eventually the man finally said, "One must acknowledge one's defeat before he can move on…I will go solo…for now…So that one day I will form a stronger organization!"

Giovanni had always put that damn organization before his son, always! Even now, as he was abandoning his child, the only thing on his mind was Team Rocket! It filled the red-headed boy with hate for that organization and its leader, which he had felt only slightly before. But, it had, in fact, always been there, whenever his father would leave to go run his precious Team Rocket, the boy would feel it bubbling beneath the surface, but pride that his father was the strongest had always kept his lips sealed.

Until now, that is. Now, at this moment, when his father was leaving, did the hate boil out of control as he spat, "What aspect of you was number one? Gathering so many only to be defeated by a mere child!"

And his father responded with fury the boy hadn't expected, as if he knew it was damning to lose to someone who was about his son's age, but had kept silent about it until his son had shoved his loss in his face, "Putting together the potential of many is how you produce a huge power…that's what an organization is…That's the strength of an organization! I failed…to make the best use of my subordinates' potential…! But you shall witness one day the revival of me and my Team Rocket!"

The boy saw red at that, even still, his father could only think about his stupid Team Rocket! Eyes blazing, the boy moved closer to his father and yelled, "I don't understand you! You don't make any sense!"

Giovanni had turned away from him then, before the boy could ask him why he was leaving his son because he lost to a child. There was a long pause in which the boy thought his dad would just leave then. But, Giovanni finally said, "One day you will understand."

And then his father did walk away without another glance behind him, making everything fall away from the boy's vision; all that is, except for his father's retreating form. Once Giovanni was almost out of sight, the boy took a step forward and, all the rage, sadness, and frustration mounting that his father was really leaving him behind and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I don't want to understand you! I will never become someone like you. A coward when you're alone and acting like a tyrant when you're in front of other cowards! I will become strong! I will become a stronger man all by myself! _All by myself_!"

There was, of course, no answer to the boy's proclamation, as his father was long gone. And with hot, angry tears that he was not going to shed at his father's betrayal prickling behind his eyes, the boy turned to leave himself, not knowing where he was going to go, but knowing he couldn't stay in Kanto anymore, the reminders of his foolish father's betrayal too fresh for him.

But, as he was leaving, he saw, sort of, some kid with a Pokemon following behind him and girl next to him, watching him. He could barely see the boy's face because of the tears that were now threatening to spill from his eyes, but there seemed to be a look of pity and understanding on his face, which made the anger inside him build more...how dare some kid look at him with pity that he didn't want!

So, he yelled at the boy, "…What are you staring at?" and he kicked him savagely out of the way and practically ran away from the two, hearing the girl say something inflammatory about him but not caring enough to make any sort of response.

Then, without his realizing it, he was back at his house. After he closed the door, he sank to the floor, the choking sobs that had been building in him racked his body until they were spent and all that was left in him was emptiness. Emptiness and rage and hate for his father and Team Rocket. The boy swore to himself, once all his sadness had been purged from his system, that he would gather a Pokemon team stronger than his dad's, find that asshole, beat his team to a fainted pulp and then drag his father all the way back to Viridian City with him whether the Rocket Boss wanted to or not!

He then realized that even though he said he was going to become stronger than his father, he had no Pokemon and no money to leave Kanto. He was forced to delay his plans for three long years as he did everything to get himself to the land of Johto and away from Kanto and its too many memories. And he did, finally, and he found himself outside of a Pokemon lab (of some dorky, klutzy looking guy in glasses, who didn't seem fit to be a Pokemon anything), looking through the window, plotting how he was going to steal a Pokemon and make it his.

As he was watching and waiting, a kid (that seemed vaguely familiar somehow) came up to him, the silent question of 'what are you doing?' written plainly in his eyes. The red-head took one look at the boy and anger he couldn't quite place bubbled up inside him. And he kicked the boy aside saying, "What are you staring at?"

The boy, predictably, looked hurt. But when it was clear that the red-head was going to ignore him, he shrugged and went into the lab. The red-head watched as the boy, a stupid-looking cap backwards on his head, was given a Pokemon and told to go see someone named Mr. Pokemon. The boy had nodded politely and left the lab, a goofy grin on his face at the Pokemon he had received.

The red-head did not understand how anyone could be happy at receiving a useful tool, but there were all kinds of foolish people in the world after all, so understanding them was beneath the red head. For some reason, though, the red-head waited until the boy in the hat was gone before he burst into the lab (ignoring the loud girl with the stupid Marill as she asked him what he was doing there) and stole the Pokemon that had a type advantage to that boy's.

But then, when he had met the boy outside of Cerrygrove City, smug in the thought that he would beat the boy and show him that he was nothing special, to his utter amazement and complete confusion, he lost! He even had a type advantage! It must have been some sort of fluke and, of course, the red head blamed the weakness of his Pokemon for his loss; that was all it could be after all; this new Pokemon knew nothing of what it was to be strong.

He then kicked the boy, who had stayed pretty much silent this whole time (but, the look of pride in his eyes pissed the red head off), aside and bolted away from there…only to come back once he realized that he had dropped his trainer card and the boy had learned his name…

He hoped to never run into this annoyance again as he traveled through Johto, battling all he trainers he could find (but not the Gyms or Gym Leaders, he did not want acknowledgement from people who were probably just like the father who abandoned him).

And, as he traveled, he learned that Team Rocket was making a reemergence. As the red head exited Union Cave he saw the boy going into a well, a slightly worried look on his face. With a slight quirk of his eyebrows, he followed the boy in and watched as he beat the Team Rocket members that were there.

He even questioned one of them, who told him with a sneer that even if they lost here and couldn't sell as many Slowpoke Tails as they wanted they would still be able to proceed with their plans. And, if he, a no name red head (of course this Rocket wimp didn't recognize him as Giovanni's son) wanted to interfere, he too would get a whipping, just like the boy in the hat (even though the Rockets were the ones losing).

The red head glared and then left the well as he saw the other Rockets fleeing and the boy talking to an old man who cared way too much about some Slowpokes. He could understand why the old man cared about the Slowpoke that was his, but the silent boy's concern's had made no sense to him at all. So, he left with a scowl on his face and a slight prick of confusion, that he didn't understand or even acknowledge really, in his heart.

The red head had then challenged the boy again as he was about to go into Ilex Forest. And when he asked, even though he knew the answer, if Team Rocket had returned, the silent boy's eyes took on a slightly angry look and he said quietly that he had beaten some of them.

Even though the red head knew that this was true, he laughed it off and pretended that it was a joke. But, the boy had looked at him as if he was insulted that the red head thought he was lying so he challenged him…and lost, again.

Still blaming his weak Pokemon, the red head berated the silent boy and accidently let his hatred for Team Rocket spill from his lips. He covered it up by saying that he hated all weak people and that if the boy got in his way he would beat him like the weakling he was.

He pushed past the boy yet again (not waiting for any sort of answer) and continued on his journey to train his Pokemon so that he could beat his father. And he trained his Pokemon mercilessly and he beat almost every trainer who crossed his path. Except he couldn't beat that boy who seemed to love his Pokemon so much or that Trainer who used Dragon Pokemon who came to stop Team Rocket from using radio waves to manipulate Pokemon, or something stupid like that.

Because that silent boy seemed to be a trainer that the people around him seemed to like, the red head took to watching the boy's Gym battles. He watched in the crowds that tended to gather when someone came to challenge a Gym Leader. And he usually left, disgusted by how weak the Gym Leaders were, as the boy was about to make the last move that would undoubtedly defeat the Gym Leader.

The boy surprised him in other ways as well; like the time the red head wanted to challenge a Gym Leader himself to see if they were really that weak (or if the boy who was fast becoming his rival was actually that strong, a thought he hardly wanted to entertain). But, the one time he did, the woman was out tending to some poor, sick (not to mention useless) Pokemon in the lighthouse. It had pissed him off so much that he decided that the other Gym Leaders were not worth his time.

And then he learned that the silent boy had gone out of his way to Cianwood City to get medicine for the sick Lighthouse Pokémon. Sure, there was a Gym in Cianwood City that the silent boy would have wanted to go to for his precious Gym Badges, but to go across the sea for some sick Pokémon was not something the red head could fathom.

So, he went to Mahogany Town where he heard that Team Rocket had a secret base. That's where he met the Dragon Trainer who was the second person to beat him, and tell him that he didn't love and trust his Pokemon. And that bugged him much more than he wanted it too. It meant that there were others who didn't believe his father's teachings that Pokemon were just tools to be used and discarded, but, perhaps, they were companions that should be treated kindly…

He didn't want to believe it, but he saw the silent boy there, that same determined look in his eyes that he had when he went into that Well. But he ignored the boy and continued training his Pokemon, thinking and stewing over what the Dragon Trainer had said to him.

And then the red head learned that Team Rocket had taken over the Radio Tower in Goldenrod City and decided to test out whether or not his father, Team Rocket, and what he had believed was right or what that silent boy and the Dragon Trainer thought were right.

And as he charged into the Radio Tower, he saw a Rocket Grunt talking with some other Grunt who's face he couldn't see. It may have been his imagination, but as the red head came closer, one of the Grunts moved away from him, trying to hide his face.

He ignored that, and said, "Hey Team Rocket! Stop going around in groups and troubling people. You cowards!…Huh?" he trailed off as he noticed for the first time that the other grunt had a Pokemon that looked suspiciously like one of the silent boy's.

He said the boy's name and he turned around, looking slightly guilty making the red head see white, how could his rival who seemed to abhor Team Rocket as much as he did do something like join them. Not thinking, he snapped, "What are you doing here?"

Even as the question left his mouth, the realization hit him that the boy may have changed his mind about Team Rocket; that the silent boy may have thought that the Rockets were actually strong. "No way…" he breathed, not wanting the boy who was his rival to be a part of the team he hated, "You think you're strong now that you look like them? That's foolish! You shouldn't wear those things!"

The silent rolled his eyes at the red head and took off the Team Rocket uniform, making the other Rocket Grunt exclaim in surprise and demand to battle the intruder. And of course, the silent boy beat the Grunt easily, making the red head realize that the silent boy had only dressed up in that dreadful uniform to trick the Rockets; that he wasn't also betraying the red head as his father had.

After the cowardly Rocket Grunt ran off to tell the other Rockets that the silent boy had come to beat them all and ruin their plans, the red head said, responding to the silent boy's slight glare that his plans had been ruined thanks to the red head, "I see. You were trying to be sneaky… Huh! A typical idea of the meek! No matter. I'll let you handle this. I have to defeat the Dragon Tamer…What's his name…?"

The red head was interrupted when the silent boy quietly told him the name of the Dragon Trainer (whose name he recognized as the name of one of the Elite Four), and then continued as if he hadn't been interrupted at all, "Lance! After that…it will be your turn. Be ready for it!"

The red head then walked out of the building. A few seconds later, though, he returned and followed the silent boy and his quest to beat Team Rocket once again. Although the red head had wanted to beat the Rockets to see whose side he should be on, he figured that watching the outcome of the silent boy's fight would be much better test of whether or not Pokemon should be used as tools or treated as partners.

And he watched as the silent boy beat his way through floor after floor of Rockets who used their Pokemon without remorse and lost just as he did time and time again. The silent boy just kept winning and winning until he went into the director's room until he came back out with a key in hand and an angry glint in his eyes, making the red head wonder what the Rocket in that room (for it must have been a Rocket to get him angry) had done that made the boy look more determined than ever.

Once the silent boy had made his way to the underground tunnel, he stopped him and challenged him once again to a battle to settle who was right, his father or this boy, and told him that he had tailed him in the hopes that Lance would show up (it wasn't a complete lie, he had been hoping that the Dragon Trainer would show up as well) and that he would repay his debts by beating the silent boy.

But, again, he had lost and he didn't understand why. The questions he had asked himself ever since he had met the boy still hadn't been answered for him so he asked the silent boy, "Why do I lose? I've assembled the toughest Pokémon. I haven't eased up on the gas. So why do I lose?…I don't understand. Is what that Lance guy said true? That I don't treat Pokémon properly? Love…Trust… Are they really what I lack? Are they keeping me from winning? I…I just don't understand."

Before the silent boy could give any sort of answer, though, his eyes full of concern that the red head did not want to see, he said, "But it's not going to end here. Not now. Not because of this. I won't give up my dream of becoming the world's best Pokémon Trainer!"

Then he left, knowing that silent boy would beat Team Rocket. He decided that he would fight instead the Maiko-san (Kimono girls, for those who play the English version ^_^) who were waiting for some trainer to come and awaken some legendary Pokemon or other.

And then, when he made it there (after training his Pokemon harder than over), he lost. To a bunch of silly girls in Kimono. He had underestimated them because they were female, and he paid dearly for it. And, to make things worse, those girls had looked on him in pity and echoed what Lance had told him; that he needed to love and trust his Pokemon more.

As he exited the Dance Theater, he ran into the silent boy once again, who gave him a curious look, as if he wanted to know if the red head was going to challenge him next. Instead, head bowed, words spilled from his lips, as they always did when that boy was around, "How…? How is this possible? How can I lose to mere Maiko…? You were watching me…" he trailed off then, wondering if the boy would say anything at all to him.

But, when the silent boy didn't (somehow confirming that he had been watching the red head's humiliating defeat), he continued speaking, "Yeah, that's right! I never thought defeating five Maiko-san would be so hard…I got beaten to a pulp…Don't get cocky just because you defeated Team Rocket! These Maiko-san are insanely strong. Go ahead! But I'm not going back. I don't want to see you win."

With that, the red head ran off without looking back, feeling the worst he had since his father had abandoned him. He decided then that he would try his hand at fighting the Elite Four (and Lance), to make himself the strongest.

And he raced through that area beating everyone he could as savagely as he could. He entered Victory Road, half crazed and ready to beat any trainer he saw to a pulp for just being there. Somehow, though, he managed to get lost in that cave and everything seemed to shut down then; he had no idea where he was and no idea what to do next, and he seemed to deflate; at this rate he would never get to the level he wanted to be. He would never beat Lance, the silent boy or his dad...

And then he saw the silent boy, wandering Victory Road with his Pokemon, not a worry on his face. So he followed his rival once again. And once they both reached the end of the Road, he challenged the silent boy again, vowing to crush him…or, his whole world view would be crushed by this boy who said hardly a word…

And, predictably (he was, unfortunately, getting used to this now), he lost. As his last Pokemon was returned to his Pokeball, he murmured, "...I couldn't win...I gave it everything I had...What you possess and what I lack, I'm beginning to understand what that Dragon tamer said to me..." and it was true, he was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, his father had been wrong all this time and Pokemon weren't meant to be used as tools…

And then he noticed that the boy was looking at him with concern in his eyes that he didn't understand; he never imagined that the silent boy would think of him as anything other than a nuisance. It was hard for him to think that the silent boy thought of him as a rival just as much as he did.

But, old habits die hard, and he met the boy's concern with a glare and a snap that had less bite than he wanted it to, "I haven't given up on becoming the greatest Trainer... I'm going to find out why I can't win and become stronger...When I do, I will challenge you. I'll beat you down with all my power...Humph! You keep at it until then."

He then left Victory Road and made his way back to Kanto; to the land his father had abandoned him. And he trained, but not as he had before. He paid more attention to how his Pokemon were feeling and treating them with respect and kindness, which he found better than just using them.

Eventually, the silent boy found him again in Mt. Moon. And, of course, the red head challenged the silent boy. And, of course, he lost. After the battle was over, he groaned, "My training's still not good enough...? My Pokémon are so weak, it makes me frustrated... "

He saw the silent boy's eyebrows arch at this, as if he never thought that the red head's Pokemon were weak. The red head continued, though, not letting the silent boy voice these thoughts, "But I can feel that they are getting better after each battle...Tch! They're still too weak! I need to give them more training... I know! I should take them to Dragon's Den! See ya."

And he left the silent boy, as he always did. He then made his way back through Kanto and Johto to Blackthorn City and the Dragon's Den where he trained and trained and trained. Initially, he had wanted to ask the Master of the Dragon's Den what the secret to training Pokemon was, but the old man hadn't said anything to him. So, the red head decided that he would stay and train until the Master relented and told him what he wanted to know.

Sometime later, the silent boy made his way back to the Dragon's Den as well, his eyes shining with a, maybe, mocking curiosity that made the red head say, "...What? Are you here to make fun of my training? Humph! I took my time coming all the way here, but the Master won't tell me anything, and he's making a big deal out of it... So I decided to train my Pokémon here instead."

Before the silent boy could say anything, Lance, and some blue-haired woman in a strange costume came into the cave as well. Of course, the red head challenged the Dragon Trainer to a battle. The challenge was accepted and then the challenge of a Double Battle was added.

Even though the red head had wanted to fight Lance one-on-one, he accepted the Double Battle as soon as the lady in the strange costume had tried to make him team up with her, making him immediately ask the silent boy to team up with him.

As he fought alongside the silent boy, he found that he enjoyed this battle more than he wanted to. And, after winning (something he wouldn't admit surprised him), he said, once again that he would beat the silent boy and left knowing that he would see his rival again in the future…he had all but forgotten about his father.

Not knowing what else to do other than more training, the red head returned to his home in Viridian City…the home he had hoped to avoid. Surprisingly, though, he didn't dislike the city as much as he thought he would have if he returned; it didn't remind him of his father as he thought it would.

As he wandered the city, passed a man in a dark hat and dark coat. He paused for a second, an old, familiar anger bubbling up inside him when he thought he heard the man whisper, "You've grown up, I see...". But, by the time he turned around to see if that man was who he thought he was, he had already disappeared into a crowd of people.

The red head took a deep breath, and decided not to pursue the person. He kept wandering the City that used to be his home and wound up passing the Gym. He looked up at the familiar building, thinking back to when he was much younger and wondering where his dad was…

Just then, a boy with spikey hair, not much older than him, landed next to him. And, after putting his Pidgeot back into its Pokeball, looked at the redhead for a moment, appraising him, making the red head feel slightly unnerved. Offhandedly, the boy commented, "You remind me a lot of me when I was younger…"

Before the red head could say anything, spikey hair disappeared into the Gym without another look. The red head was inclined to follow, until he saw a familiar hat in the distance; it was the silent boy. The red head turned away from the gym then, deciding that it was time for more training.

**And that is the end of that…it turned out to be much longer than I wanted it to be…I guess that's what I get for trying to summarize a whole game in a oneshot ^_^ But, I felt like writing this, so I did. And now, one thing, before I close: before you tell me that the main character fights Blue (or Gary or whatever his name is) before you can do that tag-team with the rival dude, I'm pretty sure you can do it in either order…though, since Lance's Pokemon are pretty strong at that point I don't know why one would want to fight him first…Well, anyway if you'd like please leave a review, I'd like to know what you guys think…But, if you disliked this story so much that you have nothing positive to say, please keep it to yourself, I'd rather not read any flames, this is my first attempt at a Pokemon story after all…For those who read my other stories, see you next update ^_^**

**-****村山鶴**


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